Alan Simpson, Erskine Bowles to speak on fiscal reform at Wake Forest

Alan Simpson and Greensboro native Erskine Bowles, the co-chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, will speak next month about the U.S. deficit and debt crisis at Wake Forest University.

Simpson is a former Republican senator, while Bowles is a Democrat who served as President Bill Clinton's chief of staff among other prominent roles including president of the UNC system.

The two oversaw an unsuccessful effort by their commission to design and endorse a bipartisan plan to reduce the U.S. deficit. The two co-chairs did issue their own recommendations that included both severe spending cuts and large tax increases.

The Sept. 25 event is part of Wake Forest's "Voices of Our Time" speaker series. It will be free and open to the public, and begins at 6 p.m. in Wait Chapel.